Page 99 of Killer on the First Page
She often spoke in such terms, just as Owen McCune put everything in automotive terms and Miranda in references to fame and the degrees thereof.
“In the end, each came down to the smallest of details,” said Miranda. “A toothpick gave away the first murder, the ‘artfully’ scattered pieces of a fallen clock gave away the second, and a tube of missing wax gave away the third.”
A silence passed after Miranda’s last comment. The wax had been filched from Fairfax DePoy’s signet sealing set, and by tacit agreement they were avoiding speaking about the late Mr. DePoy (aka “Frankie from New Jersey”) in order not to further upset Harpreet.
“It was your peach cobbler that did it, Bea. The final piece of the puzzle. Even when he sneaked upstairs to ‘canoodle’ with Inez—as Edgar puts it—Owen couldn’t help but bring a plate of your cobbler up with him. I imagine he had to gobble it down between suction-cup kisses. It was that good.”
“Thank you, dear.”
“She seemed a troubled soul,” said Harpreet.
“Inez had been mocked by the group, true, and that may have been part of it. But who knows what murky depths churn in the hidden heart of a murderer?” Was she quoting Pastor Fran? Possibly. “Inez Fonio was fascinated with ropes and pulleys, which may have inspired the lighthouse noose. She lied about her alibi, and onceher DNA is confirmed on the murder weapon, it will tell us she also wielded the speargun.”
“Why hide it in her own room?” asked Harpreet.
“I was puzzled by that, too, but then I realized that the police had already searched the bedrooms at the inn, including hers. Officer Holly is commendably thorough; she would certainly have looked under the armoire; in fact, she insists she did. Which means the weapon was placed thereafterlast night’s murders. Inez must have stowed it outside, then brought it in after the police left. Perhaps she was planning to use it again.”
“On who?”
“Penny, most likely. That was Cephus’s prediction, though it could easily have been Ray Valentine who was targeted next. Picking them off one by one—revenge for how they treated her, and removing the competition as well.”
“You prevented a further murder!” said Bea. She was going through her library of VHS tapes, trying to find one suitable for their tired but triumphant mood. She stopped. Turned. “But why would Owen lie like that? He knew Inez wasn’t with him at the time Kane was murdered.”
“Love makes you do crazy things,” said Harpreet. “I once got a perm.”
They nodded thoughtfully.
“I wouldn’t do that now, of course,” Harpreet hastened to add. “I was young and rebellious.”
Bea pushed the selected tape into the deck, and on a warble of VHS tracking it began:“Our Lady, who arts on the mean streets of Crime City... Tonight’s episode: ‘The Bomb in the Birthday Cake’!”(again, sort of gave away the ending).
This episode once again featured Pastor Fran’s archrival Lãuren Morocco.
“With the female characters on the show, they always gave merivals,” Miranda complained, “never allies. I was always being pitted against another female sleuth, or a fashion magnate, or a ruthless member of a competing church congregation. She went on to greater things, though, that actress, the one playing Morocco in this episode.”
“She was Mark Hamill’s daughter in one show and later played his wife—or was it his mother?—on a movie of the week,” said Bea.
I once had a home in the Hollywood Hills, thought Miranda. Now I’m staying in the attic of a small B&B. Happy Rock had taken her into its fold, and yet—
“If I had a chance to return to Hollywood, hypothetically speaking, and star again in my own show—”
Bea didn’t even let her finish. “You have to go!” The use of the hypothetical hadn’t fooled anyone. “Is itPastor Fran? Are they remakingPastor Fran? Tell me they are remakingPastor Fran.”
“Not exactly. But still a detective. A female version of Inspector Le Gnash.”
“Oh my. But he never karate-chops anyone, or wears a red bikini, or drives a speedboat; he just shuffles about, being grumpy.”
“Very well written, though,” said Harpreet. “Those novels. Ms. Fenland has real talent.”
Miranda agreed. “It’s not like she’s writing comedic cozies or anything.”
“God forbid!”
They laughed.
Harpreet disagreed with Bea when it came to Hollywood and Miranda. “I say, stay where the heart is. When we first moved here from Seattle, it was a great cultural shock. Happy Rock was so much quieter. But we each wanted to have our own shop. Tanvir’s dad had been a carpenter back in Peshawar. My mother was a seamstress of great renown. We opened our businesses right across the street fromeach other. Tanvir says it’s so he can keep an eye on me, but really it’s the opposite.”
They laughed again.
